


You're The One That I Want

by OTTSTF



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, literally pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-09 22:53:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13491498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTTSTF/pseuds/OTTSTF
Summary: They thought that high school would be the most exciting time of their lives, finally being able to spend every day together. It ends up bringing more panic, specifically about their future together.Chapters are the opposite direction





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah I'm jumping onto the typical fluff plot. Oh well ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Mike thought that having El join them in high school would be the most exciting time of his life. And to an extent, it is. Being able to spend every day with the girl he cared for the most was absolutely amazing, and he wouldn't change it for the world. Seeing her face light up whenever she got a question correct, or whenever anyone told her how smart she was was the best thing his eyes could ever lay upon. But that subject, eyes laying upon El, that brings us to what's worrying Mike.

It started as soon as she walked onto the school grounds. Every single guy in the immediate vicinity seemed to be staring at her. Fair enough, she's the new girl everyone's been talking about; it's to be expected. It should die down in a few days, right? Weeks? ...Months?

Mike doesn't want to sound selfish, but it doesn't seem to stop; not ever. She walks into a classroom, all eyes on El. She walks into the cafeteria, all eyes on El. They walk down a hallway, all eyes on El. And as much as he hates to admit it, whenever she acknowledges the stares with her gorgeous smile, it makes him worry even more.

What if one day she realises she can do much better than Frog-Face? There's so many more guys out there, or girls if she realises she swings that way instead. With all the eyes laid upon her, not to mention how much more confident other people are at talking to girls, surely it's only a matter of time before his heart is broken into billions of pieces, and she leaves him for good.

"Mike?"  
El pauses the movie their watching with a simple glance, and turns to him. They're sat in the basement, just the two of them for some much-needed alone time after only seeing each-other in school for a while. They'd been enjoying the movie together, but El's noticed Mike acting very odd lately. He seems to be zoning out a lot.

His attention is caught immediately. "Huh? Yeah El?"

The smallest frown plays on her lips. "What's wrong?"

His face scrunches a bit as he tries to sound convincing. "Oh, nothing! Nothing's wrong, why?"

" _Mike_." she sounds serious. "You _know_ I hate it when you do that."  
He drops his head slightly as she reaches for his hand, taking it in both of hers.  
"Please, tell me."

He sighs. For someone who didn't speak much when he found her, she's got one hell of a way with words.

"It's..." but her way with words doesn't help his. "It's stupid. Really, I'm just being stupid."

"Mike. You're never stupid." she says seriously, before lightening up. "Well, you're stupid when you keep things from me like this. You know I worry about you when you act like this."

Sighing again, he gives in, trying to search for the words to describe his worries.  
"It's... you, El." her eyebrows raise, immediately worrying Mike. "It's nothing you've done, nothing your fault. It's... in school."

Her head tilts in confusion.

"Ever since we started, all I've been able to notice is how many people keep staring at you."

She nods her head. "Like you said; new girl. It should settle down soon."

His face is hard to read for once. His words continue to sound worried, though.  
"Yeah, but it hasn't. Everywhere you go, everyone's always looking at you. And I can't help but see the way _guys_ keep looking at you."

Her eyebrows raise once again. _Is that really all this is about?_

"It's been going on for so long, and how you're getting used to it, I think... all I can think of is that one day you'll realise you can do so much better than me."

She laughs, her head falling back slightly, before she nudges his shoulder. "You're not getting away from me that easy, Mike."

Her reaction doesn't ease his worry. "Really, though? All I can imagine is that one day, the right guy will catch your eye, and well... that'll be the end of it. Of _us_."

She gives him a small smile, feeling apologetic for his worries. "That's never going to happen."

"I'm not sure about that, El. I'm not good looking or anything, I'm just some lanky nerd; one day you'll see someone, and you'll realise that just because I took you in from the woods doesn't mean you need to stay with me." he sounds as if he's going to break down any second. El's beginning to really worry about him now.

"Mike, stop. Don't be stupid. Do you really think that's all I care about?" He doesn't react; he simply keeps staring at the floor.  
"Look at me, Mike." she orders, he obeys, much to her relief.  
"There's so much more to you than looks, Mike. And whilst I'll always be thankful for what you did for me that night, that plays no role in why I'm sat here with you right now."

His eyebrows furrow slightly. "What is it, then?"

She furrows her eyebrows back at him, as if she can't believe what she's hearing.  
"It's _you_." she pokes him right over his heart. " _You_ are what makes you perfect. Every single thing about you."

A smile threats his former frown as a single tear breaks free, which she wipes from his face immediately. She takes both of his hands in hers, never breaking eye contact.

"You're right. Just because you saved me that day, doesn't mean I have to stay with you."  
She pauses to see his reaction, which amuses her.  
"But that doesn't mean I'm not going to."

She reaches a hand to his face, gently smoothing over his cheek; he shivers slightly at the touch.  
"Michael Wheeler, _you_ are the one that I want to spend my entire life with. _Nothing_ will ever change that."

The smile on his face grows nearly infinitely, whilst tears show no signs of calming down. Instinct breaking loose, he leans in to wrap her into a hug, which she immediately accepts and returns.

"You have nothing to worry about, Mike. I wouldn't trade you for the world."

Mike is overwhelmed by the words he hears. The smile on his face is becoming painful, and he's quickly beginning to drench her shoulder in tears, although she doesn't care in the slightest.

He finally manages to speak after what seems like centuries.  
"Thank you, El. Thank you so much." he sniffles. "God you mean so much to me."

She laughs slightly. "Who would've guessed, huh?"  
The laughter which emerges from him as she says that overwhelms her with happiness.

_Nothing. Nobody. Never will anything make me want anything different._


	2. Chapter 2

El thought that joining her friends in school would be the most exciting time of her life. And for the most part, it is. Being able to spend every day with her friends – with _Mike_ , was absolutely amazing. After all the time that they'd spent helping get her up to speed, she's glad that things are going well.

At first, she was worried sick. She couldn't help but think she'd never manage to do well in school, since she'd never been before. If not because of her lack of prior knowledge, perhaps she'd accidentally use her abilities in front of a bunch of people.

_People_ . That's another worry of hers. The amount of them was overwhelming for her. She's always been used to being in small places; the most crowded place so far being a supermarket. But school... school was  _much_ bigger.  _So much_ more crowded. It didn't help that it seemed like  _everyone_ was staring at her. Sure, Mike telling her that it was only because she was new, and that it'd tone down eventually, helped. But it was still making her paranoid.

Something she overheard someone say had gotten to her most recently. A couple, and all she'd heard was the guy tell his girlfriend how pretty she was.  _Pretty_ . She still remembers Mike calling her pretty for the first time. But as she glances around the school, she notices the amount of  _girls_ there are. She notices how  _pretty_ they all are.  _Why can't I be that pretty?_ She believes she can't possibly comapare to how pretty some of the girls in school are.

_Mike_ . What if Mike notices this too? What if another girl catches his eye? Will he leave her for the new girl? She'd felt like this seeing him and Max in the gym that day, but now, seeing just  _how many_ girls there are, to say she's worried would be an understatement.

One day, Mike's going to realise that he can do better than her. Why would he want to stick with a freak that can do things with her mind? Why would he stick with the one that's literally crushed people's brains inside their skull without a second thought? In fact, why is he still with her? Surely he's thought of running away from her at some point. It has to happen at some point, surely.

"El? Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Mike reaches forward to pause the movie they're watching, before quickly turning back to her. He sounds suddenly worried, as if he knows something's wrong.  _How_ he knows hits her when he reaches up  to her cheek, and rubs a tear away with his sleeve.  _When did she start crying?_

" It's... nothing. I don't know what that was about." she states, trying to sound serious, but failing miserably.

"El, don't do that. You don't cry for nothing. What's wrong?"

She sighs. She doesn't want him to feel responsible for her all the time. He's always cared for her, but what if he's only doing that because he feels like he must?  
"I..." she doesn't know how to start. "Don't worry, it's stupid. I'm stupid."

"El, no. You're not stupid, you're never stupid. You're the exact opposite of stupid and you know it." he quickly blurts out, truly hating whenever El doubts herself.  _How can she possibly call herself stupid, after managing to catch up with everyone else so quickly? She's absolutely **not** stupid! _ He takes one of her hands in both of his, smoothing the back of it. "El, please tell me. You know I'll be worried all night otherwise."

He sounds like he's begging.  _ God, he's always been so good to me. He's always cared so much, always tried his best to make sure everything is perfect for me. _   
"I t's... school, and you." she says. His face quickly becomes that of panic. "Not your fault! Nothing you've done." she quickly assures him. "I just..." she groans. "It's so overwhelming in so many ways."

He nods his head. "I know, El, but you've done so well!  Everyone sees how smart you are, and you've handled the amount of people so well. I'm really proud of you, you know that?"

She smirks slightly. "Thank you Mike, but I still worry. The people, so many people, so many  _ girls _ , Mike. They're all so pretty and I'm... I'm  _ not _ . I can't help  but see them all and wonder why you still want to be with me."

His eyebrows hit the roof.  _ Is she... serious? _   
"El, no! I would never do that to you!"

"Why? There's so many more girls out there, Mike. They're all prettier, and they're all  _ normal _ . You would be safer with them, you wouldn't need to worry about them using their powers accidentally and looking like a freak."

"El..."

"All I can imagine is that one day you'll see someone, and you'll realise that you can do so much better than me.  You'll find someone, and you won't want to know me any more, and I'll be left alone."

"El, no. I would rather die than do that to you." he says seriously.

"Mike..."

"I'm serious! El, I will never choose anyone over you. Listen to me: You are the most beautiful person I've ever met. Nobody will ever change that,  _ ever _ ."

She smirks once again. "Really?"

" _ Really _ , El.  And as for your powers, I've never been worried about them. I  _ forget _ about them, El, because there's so much more to you than powers and a pretty face."

Her smirk grows briefly, but quickly turns back into a frown.  
"But I  _ can't _ forget about them, Mike. They're so...  _ normal _ to me.  One day I'll use them without even realising it, everyone will see, and then that'll be the end of everything. What  then, Mike?"

He feels symphathetic, and looks it too. "Then we work it out together, El. No matter what happens, I'll always stick with you.  I  _ promise _ ."

Her smirk returns. "Thank you, Mike."

He attempts to respond, but he's interrupted as she pulls him in for a hug. Without hesitation, he returns it.  Without him realising it, his hand begins rubbing her back.  
"You've got nothing to worry about, El. I wouldn't trade you for the world."

She feels overwhelmed by his words. The smile on her face continues to grow, and she's sure she may end up crying with happiness soon.   
"Thank you, Mike. Thank you so much, for everything. You've always been so good to me, ever since we met. I can't thank you enough."

He smiles, her words repeating in his mind.  _ She has nothing to thank me for.  _ He pulls back for a moment, looking into her eyes, her looking into his. _  
_ "You deserve nothing less, El.  And you thank me every day. Just being here, being able to spend time with you... that is all I ever need."

That does it. Her smile grows, and tears begin to fall.  Unable to stop herself, her face falls into his shoulder as she smiles uncontrolably.

_ Nothing. Nobody. Never will anything make me want anything different. _

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks very much for reading <3


End file.
